A Gambit re-issue of the definitive modern work on pawn endings, written by the same authors as the award-winning Fundamental Chess Endings

This book provides a thorough course in endings with just kings and pawns, from the simple to the highly complex. Armed with this knowledge, the reader will also be able to tackle other types of endgame with greater confidence and certainty.

Many interesting and beautiful positions are included, and there are test positions for the reader to solve. The authors follow the rigorously logical conventions introduced by John Nunn in his famous series of endgame manuals. This has necessitated a phenomenal amount of new analysis of theoretical positions to assess precisely the merits of each and every move.

* A comprehensive and authoritative guide to the most fundamental type of endgame * Includes puzzle positions to test the reader's understanding * Makes use of computer software specifically geared to pawn endings * Logically organized in user-friendly fashion

Karsten Müller is a grandmaster from Germany, who competes regularly in the Bundesliga and international events. He finished third in the German Championship in 1996, and was runner-up in 1997. He is a noted authority on both practical and theoretical endgames. Frank Lamprecht is also from Germany, and is an international master. He has been a chess trainer since 1983. Müller and Lamprecht won the British Chess Federation Book of the Year Award in 2002 for Fundamental Chess Endings 

Contents of previous edition (publisher Everyman):

006 Foreword by John Nunn

009 Preface

010 Introduction

011 Crash course

012 The Nunn Convention

013 Other Signs and Symbols

015 1 King and Pawn(s) vs King

023 Exercises

026 Solutions

028 2 King and Pawn vs King and Pawn

028 A) Pawns on the Same File

032 B) Pawns on Adjacent Files

034 Exercises

036 Solutions

038 3 Race of the Passed Pawns

038 A) Both Sides Queen a Pawn

040 B) Queen against Pawn(s)

043 C) Transition into a Pawn Ending

044 Exercises

046 Solutions

049 4 Small Number of Pawns

049 A) Blocked Pair of Pawns and a Passed Pawn

051 B) Protected Passed Pawn

052 C) Backward Pawn

054 D) Others

056 E) Doubled Pawns

058 Exercises

061 Solutions

065 5 Unique Features of the Rook's Pawn

065 A) Blocked Pair of Pawns and a Passed Pawn

066 A1) Bähr's Rule

069 A2) Bishop's Pawn and Rook's Pawn vs Rook's Pawn

071 B) Protected Passed Pawn

071 C) Others

074 D) Doubled Pawns

075 Exercises

077 Solutions

079 6 Fortresses, Stalemates and Underpromotion

079 A) Simple Fortresses

081 B) Direct Applications

082 C) Stalemates

085 D) Blockade

085 E) Underpromotion

088 Exercises

091 Solutions

094 7 Pawns on One Wing

094 A) Fixed Pawn-Structure

094 B) Flexible Pawn-Structure

096 C) Passive Defence

099 D) Active Defence/ Counter-attack

102 E) Extra Pawn

107 Exercises

110 Solutions

114 8 Passed Pawns

114 A) Preliminary Considerations

116 B) Battle between Different Passed Pawns

116 B1) Several Passed Pawns on Both Sides

118 B2) Protected Passed Pawn vs Two Passed Pawns

120 B3) Protected Passed Pawns vs One Passed Pawn

122 B4) Outside Passed Pawn

123 C) Passed Pawn vs Candidate

127 Exercises

130 Solutions

134 9 Breakthrough

134 A) Far-Advanced Pawns

136 B) Breakthrough of the Majority

138 C) Creation of Two Passed Pawns

138 D) Breakthrough Possibilities for The Defence

140 Exercises

142 Solutions

145 10 Pawns on Both Wings

145 A) Extra Pawn

149 B) Majority vs Central Passed Pawn

150 C) Spread Majorities

155 D) Even Distribution of Pawns

158 Exercises

160 Solutions

165 11 Fight for Tempi and Manoeuvres

165 A) Typical Manoeuvres with an Even Distribution of Pawns

169 B) "Don't Touch Me!"

171 C) King-March and Fight for Tempi

177 Exercises

180 Solutions

188 12 Corresponding Squares

188 A) Corresponding Squares in Former Examples

191 B) Bishop's Pawn and Rook's Pawn vs Rook's Pawn

193 C) Complicated Cases

196 Exercises

198 Solutions

204 13 Thinking Methods to Find the Right Move

204 A) The Method of Exclusion

205 B) The Opponent's Possibilities

207 C) Fighting Methods

211 D) Balance of Risks

212 E) Rules of Thumb

213 14 Complicated Cases

213 A) Out of Life

217 B) At the Highest Level

224 C) C.D. Analyses

230 Exercises

231 Solutions

236 15 Simplifications

236 A) Correctly Assessing Various Endgames

241 B) Good Technique

242 C) Combination

244 Exercises

248 Solutions

256 16 Exercises

256 A) Easy Exercises

258 B) Difficult Exercises

261 C) Judge the Position

263 Solutions

280 Sources

281 Index